Summary

Ben is in love with Aggie’s older sister Cayenne. They are both in eleventh grade. During a class barbecue at the Walsh-Adams house, he woos her in her room. Meanwhile, Ben’s siblings are joking together at the party next door, when one of them, Orion, lets slip that “Poppy used to be a boy” (175). Poppy and her family are terrified for a moment, but then it gets passed off as a joke that no one takes seriously. When confronted by his parents, Orion is distraught, but Roo explains that Orion felt liberated that he was able to let the secret out for just a moment in that context.

In the next chapter, “Transformation,” Rosie and Penn video chat with Mr. Tongo again. With Poppy in fourth grade, Mr. Tongo raises the issue of hormone blockers. He is concerned...